Welding is a continuously developing technology used to join multiple materials together to form a joined article. Welded articles are continuously being made smaller, while consistently being subjected to increasingly harsh conditions. Often, due to an article's shape and/or size, a weld is desired in a location that is inaccessible to a welding apparatus. Known techniques attempt to address these demands but are not able to adequately meet them.
One known welding process uses a single laser beam directed at an article to weld materials together. The single laser beam is directed straight into a first material which is positioned between a second material and a third material. The energy from the laser beam creates a weld between the first material and the second material. The energy from the laser beam also creates a weld between the first material and the third material. The single laser beam does not exit the first element, which can result in a build-up of heat, but does not create fillets between the first element and the second and third elements, which prevents improvement of structural integrity.
Another known welding process uses tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. TIG welding involves manually feeding a weld material to a desired weld location and applying heat. TIG welding requires a user to control the size and density of a weld region as the welding is occurring. TIG welding also requires a significant amount of heat to be applied during the welding process. The heat and inherent variability due to user control often result in distortion of the material being welded, inconsistent welds, low productivity, or combinations thereof. In addition, access to a region to be welded can be required.
A welding process, welding system and welded article not suffering from one or more of the above drawbacks would be desirable in the art.